Saving Hubble

Update: http://SaveHubble.org
Please help us Save Hubble: visit the site and write President Bush, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, your Senator and Congressional Representative! http://SaveHubble.org

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe has made some very popular and unpopular decisions during his time at the space agency. No decision however, has raised as much ire as his continued refusal to allow a space shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, dooming the telescope to an early demise.

At first it was just astronomers and space enthusiasts who complained to NASA. More recently, NASA employees themselves are joining an outcry with heightening volume: all with one plea - save the Hubble. The space telescope is an amazing piece of technology, returning to us images of the universe which could not be achieved with Earth based telescopes. Hubble has seen so far out into space that it has revised the age of the universe.

The initial decision was made in January after Bush's announcement of his new space plan. Immediately after that, O'keefe announced that the servicing mission to Hubble would be canceled. There was such an outcry that two weeks ago Okeefe announced he would reconsider that decision but now, having done so, he still refuses to allow the mission and this time he says the decision is final.

The reasoning behind this decision, according to O'Keefe, is that to allow such a mission would put the shuttle crew at too high a risk. Recommendations for safety state that the shuttle should always be in an orbit allowing it to reach the space station. If the shuttle were to go to Hubble, it would not have enough fuel to get to the ISS if needed, therefore the mission posed too great a risk. O'Keefe also added that there was no time for such a mission if NASA is to finish building the international space station (ISS) and retire the aging shuttle fleet by 2010.

Then NASA engineers themselves got involved, issuing two "white papers" which challenged this reasoning. Out of fear for their jobs, the engineers refused to give their names, but they sent the papers to Capitol Hill. The papers argued that a servicing mission to Hubble would be at least as safe as a mission to the ISS. The papers prompted several lawmakers to write O'Keefe and ask he reconsider his decision. Bill Readdy, NASA's associate administrator for spaceflight, called the criticism "well-intentioned, but oversimplified." Reddy insisted saving Hubble wasn't worth the risks.

What this decision means is that Hubble, after sending us spectacular images of the universe for over a decade, virtually rewriting astronomy books, will run out of power by 2007 or 2008. Once the telescope's batteries and gyroscopes wear out, NASA plans to send a robotic spacecraft to latch onto it, return it to Earth and dump it in the ocean. The 2006 servicing mission would have extended Hubble's life for years.

There still remains some hope for Hubble, though not from NASA officials. Scientists and Engineers have begun looking for other ways to save the aging telescope. Several ideas have been suggested including a robotic servicing mission. Another idea has been to ask the Russians for help from their space program.

You can help save the Hubble, help by signing an on-line letter, please go to http://www.savethehubble.org/petition.jsp.

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